My father walks over to the woman on the floor and kicks her onto her back. His boot steps down on her sweat-covered and bloody chest. He looks her over and then to the Lord. “I don’t want to see her again.”
“Yes, sir,” the Lord says and drags her by the excess chain out of the room and down the hall while she kicks her legs out.
I question that I killed the wrong one. The dead girl who still hangs from the ceiling got off easy. I don’t know the fate of the other one. Will she be tortured? Did I sentence her to a life here as a prisoner at Carnage? Doesn’t matter. It’s too late now. I made a decision, and I told myself a long time ago that I won’t have any regrets.
He turns to face me. His eyes narrowed on mine. “You disappoint me, Haidyn.”
Good.I made the right decision. “Saying I chose the wrong one?” I picked the one on the right because, for some reason, my father despises the other one.
He steps into me and bows his chest. “You should have let them both die.”
The thought never crossed my mind. I was told to make a choice, and that’s exactly what I did. “Did I fail?” I ask, arching a brow. Ready to get the fuck out of here.
“Women are no use to you unless you’re fucking them,” he growls. “They are for your pleasure and reproduction. When are you going to figure that out?”
“I guess when I finally get to fuck one again,” I counter. Three years we have to be celibate. It’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard of. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t always throwing it in our faces. They give you plenty of opportunities to fail.
He huffs, turns, and exits the basement, leaving me alone with the dead woman who hangs by her chained wrists.
I bow my head and take a deep breath. Fuck, here’s to another year and another initiation.
THREE
HAIDYN
INITIATION
Commitment
Junior year at Barrington University
Ilook down at my Patek Philippe watch. We’ve been on this yacht for four hours. The four of us must work together on this initiation. We each received a card with a name on it, and Saint just finished his. I wanted to get in and out. Obviously, it’s going to take all night.
“Clean up,” I say, looking over all the blood out on the balcony, and I drop my backpack from my shoulder. “On to the next.”
We just helped Saint kill the guy he was assigned to. It got messy. But we were able to take care of him after the poker game, and I ended up taking the dealer out as well. We can’t leave any witnesses behind.
“How do you feel, Kash?” Adam asks, rubbing his back. “Doing okay?”
Kashton nods, pushing him away. “The gum the lady gave me helped.”
He was feeling seasick earlier. If he hasn’t vomited by now, I'd say he’ll be fine.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to use the restroom,” I tell them.
“Okay. We’ll text you when we’re done here.”
Taking the elevator down, I search for a bathroom. This megayacht is around a hundred meters—three hundred feet—long, so I know I have options. I just have to find one.
I step off, finding myself on the main deck. We’re out on the Atlantic, and the lights from the yacht illuminate the night.
The partiers have no clue two guys were just killed and thrown overboard. And by the time we’re done at least three more will be at the bottom as well. Along with the Lord who owns it.
He’s my initiation.Like the other men who will find their new home at the bottom of the ocean tonight, he fucked up. He took his oath for granted and got greedy. Now, he has to pay the price—his life.
I watch everyone carrying on with mindless conversations about their money market accounts and most recent investments, trying to appear interested in anyone other than themselves. They all scratch each other’s backs while fucking each other’s wives.
Laughter catches my attention to my right, and I turn to see a woman standing with a couple of others. She wears a white dress. The innocent color makes her skin appear kissed by the sun. It comes up high around her delicate neck and falls to the floor. The slit up the side shows off her lean right leg and a pair of red high heels that wrap and buckle around her ankle.
